Sarah Gobbert
Clinical Nurse Alcohol and Other Drugs Service (Maryborough)
How long have you been with WBHHS?
5 ½ years
How do you describe what you do?
My role is to help, encourage and support clients who have identified they have concerns regarding addiction to substances that are affecting their health, their lives, their families, and their employment, pretty much every aspect on their daily lives.
My role also involves, advocation and promoting the Maryborough service and the need for robust services close to where our clients live to ensure we are providing the best possible health care we can.
What’s best about your job?
Seeing the journey my clients take from when they first present to the service to becoming the people they want to be, raising happy healthy families, gaining employment, achieving their goals, buying houses. Gaining the confidence and skills to live their best lives.
Being a part for this journey with my clients and assisting them to achieve these huge changes in their lives makes the work worthwhile.
I love being given opportunities to utilise my skills and knowledge to creating policies, procedures and guidelines to assist in service improvement.
I also love working in Maryborough and the supportive people from the wider team in the Bauer Wiles Building who always have a smile and make coming to work each day a pleasant one.
What was your path into health care?
I went to University in the Northern Territory and commenced working as a Registered Nurse in Mental Health Services in January 1990. I worked in the inpatient Units until moving across into the Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Drugs Services (TADS) in June 2005, I worked in many roles within TADS including Clinical Nurse Consultant for Volatile Substances working to empower remote and rural communities to make changes to reduce and cease petrol sniffing and other volatile substance use. During this time, I undertook further University Qualifications gaining a Graduate Diploma in Public Sector Management. I gained the position of General Manager for Top End Alcohol and Other Drugs Service and Acted as Director for Alcohol and Other Drugs for the Northern Territory
What does being part of a team mean to you?
Being a part of not only my own AODS team but also the broader Mental Health and Specialised Services Maryborough Team makes me feel supported to be the best I can be to provide for the clients of Maryborough and surrounds. Even at times when we have significant staff shortages there is always someone willing and happy to help me.
I appreciate all of the wonderful support I receive from people who, while it is not part of their role they do not hesitate in helping me which then is helping the clients of this region.
When you’re not at work, you are…
Gardening, spending time with friends and for the last few months of the year I just love allowing my creative side free to work on Christmas decorations and have even more excuses as to why my grass is not getting mowed.
What do you enjoy about living in Wide Bay?
I just love how friendly people are in Maryborough, total strangers say good morning and smile, you make friends with people from the coffee shop and there is just a wonderful atmosphere in this lovely small town.
Tell us a fun fact about you.
Dr Who (the second one Patrick Troughton) used to Babysit me, when I was a child, I lived in England and my next door neighbour was Dr Who.
I also used to do competition target shooting, representing QLD and trying out for the Olympic Games
What song are you listening to most right now?
As it is Christmas it has to be Michael Bublé, can’t pick just one just the entire Christmas collection, once accidentally at work as part of my Christmas display had one song on loop for about two hours until someone asked me if I had any others that could be played